Stories

  • Turn of The Century Decorative Chaise Lounge

    ByFrank Parker
    Chaise Reupholster Perth

    A Background to the Art Deco Period of Britain

    This decorative chaise was made in England during the first decade of the 20th Century. It is generally thought that the Art Deco period was from 1920 – 1940. However preceding this period from about 1880 there were the Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts Movements in Britain. The ethos of the design was to borrow concepts from the past and modernise them. As a result this time frame in furniture design is generally referred to as the start of the Modernist Design era.

    The History of the Chaise Lounge

    This decorative chaise lounge was constructed from mahogany with decorative brass inlays. However it had been poorly restored. Under instruction from our clients we stripped the upholstery back to the frame and properly repaired the fractured shaped timber rail using two-pack resin.

    The Reupholstery Process

    The process we undertook for the reupholstery was:

    • to strip the existing polish which had previously been stained Jarrah with a gloss finish
    • relacquer the show-wood with a natural finish in a low sheen and
    • reupholstered the chaise fitting it with new jute webbing, lacing coil springs then a hessian overlay

    Our clients had a restricted budget so we then laminated firm premium cushioning over the tied hessian which gave an authentic finish and we are sure would be approved by the Modernists during its original construction. The fabric and gimp we selected were in keeping with the era. It gave a Modernist touch to the furniture keeping it reasonably authentic.

    Our Clients Loved It!

    Our clients loved the finished piece in their turn of the century home and we trust they will enjoy living with this furniture for many years into the future.

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    Call us Today to Have Your Chaise Reupholstered

  • Early surviving furniture in W.A. (pre 1842)

    ByFrank Parker
    Perth recover antique furniture

    Furniture From The South West of Western Australia

    The descendants of the original Western Australian early settlers who brought this furniture to Busselton in 1842 asked us to re-upholster the surviving pieces. This lounge suite was originally brought in from England as 2 x 2 seater settees and 2 x chairs. We felt honoured to restore the surviving 2 seater and chair.

    This furniture was originally at the home of first settlers in Busselton then was transported to Bridgetown by initial farmers at the opening of this area to farming then was shifted by future generations of the family to a farm in Harvey. We finally retrieved the furniture for refurbishment from retired family members residing in Claremont.

    What Happens When You Reupholster Furniture Many Times?

    This furniture had previously been re-upholstered four times with the integrity of the finish increasingly compromised over the years. We were given the task of stripping the furniture completely back and restoring to its bygone glory days.

    How We Restored This Antique Furniture

    https://www.parkerinteriors.com.au/re-uphoster/We took extra care and slowly worked on these precious pieces of furniture to restore them to their former glory. This process included:

    • Stripping all the upholstery to the bare frames
    • Minimal structural repairs as the internal frames were in amazing condition which is an incredible testament to those who made this furniture over 175 years ago
    • Fitting new heavy weight jute webbing,
    • Lacing in new coil springs
    • Then covering with hessian
    • Creating a new stitched edge
    • Laminating with a layer of premium padding and polyester
    • Fitting the inside backs with new jute webbing and hessian
    • Laminating with a layer of premium cushioning and polyester to provide a smooth finish
    • Deep buttoning was marked out on both the prepared pieces of furniture and the cut pile velvet
    • Upholstering with the buttoning traditionally vandyked and
    • Padding of the outside backs/arms whilst finishing with gimp edging

    Our clients were amazed with the result and plan to pass this furniture to their children for the future generations to enjoy

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    Call us Today for Quality Antique Furniture Reupholstery

  • Problems with re-upholstering your old lounge suite

    ByFrank Parker

    Fixing up a previous reupholstery job

    This modular unit was manufactured by a local Perth, business ‘Farmer Furniture’ in the early 1980’s. It was re-upholstered 12 years ago however the clients had never been happy with the quality of the reupholstery job as it simply “did not feel like the old suite when new”.

    How we approached renewing this lounge suite

    We stripped the old upholstery from the modular frame. It revealed that the second layer of fabric had simply been placed over the initial fabric in which the suite was made. This style of reupholstery is very problematic. The issue is caused by the webbing, body padding and cushioning not being replaced resulting in this lounge furniture quickly returning to a dysfunctional state. Which is a waste of time and money for the owners.

    The next stage involved us:

    This process allowed us to modernise the upholstery finish without losing the authentic character of the lounge suite.

    The final result was a well finished and functional modular lounge this family will enjoy for many years into the future.

    Call us so we can help you reupholster your lounge suite